Snowdrops at The Garden House

Galanthus elwesii ’Monostictus’

I am not a galanthophile, a passionate lover and collector of snowdrops.   In common with most gardeners I can’t help but like their cheerful indifference to the worst of winter weather but I’ve never been interested enough or had the room to grow more than a handful.  But spending the colder months of 2016-17 photographing the collection built up at The Garden House by Matt Bishop, the previous head gardener, has opened my eyes to their beauty and variety.

Galanthus reginae-olgae

The Garden House had no sooner closed for the winter season than the first of them had opened.  Early November saw Galanthus elwesii ’Monostictus’, closely followed by G.reginae-olgae.  December saw more until the floodgates opened in January and February.

Galanthus elwesii 'Fly Fishing'

The giant snowdrop, G.elwesii, with silvery

leaves and the largest flowers, is an imposing sight no matter the variety.  It’s hard to pick favourites – I leave that to the true experts – but I was certainly taken by two I photographed in mid-January.  ‘Fly Fishing’ is characterised by extremely long flower stalks.  The slightest breeze and the blooms dance in the wind.  ‘Godfrey Owen’ has six inner and six outer petals producing a symmetrical bowl shaped bloom. A perfect double flower – if not the doubling we normally associate with snowdrops.

Galanthus elwesii 'Godfrey Owen'

With doubles it’s more common to have an intense doubling of the inner petals and no doubling of the outer petals.  Photographing this isn’t always easy for snowdrops growing in the garden.  They’re small and hang their heads down – which means working at ground level, usually with wet knees.  But, with persistence, they do reveal their secrets.  More refined is ‘L.P Long’, particularly when compared with the blowsier ‘Lady Beatrix Stanley’.

Galanthus 'L.P.Lomg'

Galanthus 'Lady Beatrix Stanley'

There are times when the situation makes it easy to photograph up and into the heart of the flowers.  G.nivalis ‘Sam Arnott’ is grown in a raised bed under the wedding cake tree, Cornus controversa ’Variegata’, perfectly positioned to admire the green markings on the inner petals.

Galanthus nivalis 'Sam Arnott'

Such markings are standard on the inner petals of most snowdrops  but the effect is more pronounced and even extends to the outer petals in some of the selected forms grown at The Garden House. Some have the conventional snowdrop flower shape, as with G.’Alan’s Treat’ or G.plicatus ‘Greenfinch’.  Others, such as ‘Trumps’, begin to deviate from the normal form.

Galanthus x hybridus 'Trumps'

Galanthus 'Alan's Treat'

Galanthus plicatus 'Greenfinch'

Some varieties take this even further, combining heavy marking with elongated outer petals.  G.nivalis ‘Walrus’ retains elegance but looks very little like a normal snowdrop while G.’Doncaster’s Double Sharlock’ offers even further variation on the norm.  Fascinating curiosities that were a pleasure to photograph and admire.

Galanthus nivalis 'Walrus'

Galanthus 'Doncaster's Double Sharlock'

This is only a fraction of the collection at The Garden House.  There are many more interesting variants on the basic white with green markings snowdrop design to be seen on the open days in Winter.  If you've previously visited I hope this will be a reminder to drop in again.  If not, well the open days and directions to the garden can be found on The Garden House website.  Visit The Garden House for the latest details.

I’ll finish with my own favourites, the varieties where green has been replaced with yellow in the ovaries and the markings.  And what better to illustrate this than G.plicatus ‘Wendy’s Gold’, which flaunts itself close to the entrance to the garden.

Galanthus plicatus 'Wendy's Gold'

I'll be out at The Garden House throughout this winter to add more photos to the collection.  The images are available for purchase through the Alamy stock agency or by contacting me directly.  Many of the species and varieties are available through Matt Bishop's own website.  Matt Bishop's Snowdrops contains all the details and a link to his publications and detailed monograph on the genus (co authors A.Davis and John Grimshaw).

A final flourish

The Garden House is now closed until March but it certainly went into hibernation with a final flourish.  The Acer Glade was originally planted with 40 varieties of Japanese maples at the end of the 1970's.  They've grown, of course, and seem to colour up more spectacularly every year.  This year has been no exception and, aided by warm days, cool nights and very moderate winds, the colour has been glorious.  It's certainly yielded some interesting photos.  As always, click to embiggen.

How fast do Dicksonia antarctica tree ferns grow in the UK - the saga continues

On 4 April 2014 I published a update on the growth rate of the Dicksonia antarctica tree fern in my Plymouth garden.  Two years and three growing seasons further on it's time for another update.

Measured this afternoon in now stands at 46.5 in / 118cm from ground level to the height of the growing point.

Dicksonia antarctica in the rear garden 20/10/2016

This represents a fairly moderate slowdown in growth since I last reported.  Graphically it can be represented as follows:

Dicksonia antarctica trunk growth rate in inches

Still not too bad.  There are many shrubs and dwarf conifers that can't manage this amount of height extension despite ultimately growing larger than the Dicksonia.  It can probably be explained by two factors.  Firstly trunk extension is being matched by a increase in trunk girth and this all takes energy. The fronds are larger and heavier, requiring a thicker stem for support, so the earlier growth spurt is beginning to diminish.  Secondly, watering and feeding has been reduced over the last couple of years.  I've had other preoccupations and constant attention has diminished.  Taken together, growth has slowed a little.  Still encouraging, though.  Plant a number of young (cheap!) sporeling ferns in a lightly shaded spot, nurture well and 15 years later you could have a grove of specimen plants with nearly 4ft stems and their palm like rosettes of fronds.